Numbers 4

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

2 Take the sum of the children of Caath from the midst of the sons of Levi, after their families, according to the houses of their fathers' households;

“Register the descendants of Kohath from the tribe of Levi, according to their family and father's line.

3 from twenty-five years old and upward until fifty years, every one that goes in to minister, to do all the works in the tabernacle of witness.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

4 And these are the works of the sons of Caath in the tabernacle of witness; it is most holy.

This work that they are to do in the Tent of Meetings involves the things that are most holy.

5 And Aaron and his sons shall go in, when the camp is about to move, and shall take down the shadowing veil, and shall cover with it the ark of the testimony.

Whenever you move camp, Aaron and his sons will go in, take down the veil, and place it over the Ark of the Testimony.

6 And they shall put on it a cover, even a blue skin, and put on it above a garment all of blue, and shall put the staves through [the rings].

On top of this they are to put a fine leather covering, spread a cloth of solid blue over it, and then insert its carrying poles.

7 And they shall put on the table set forth for show-bread a cloth all of purple, and the dishes, and the censers, and the cups, and the vessels with which one offers drink-offerings; and the continual loaves shall be upon it.

Have them spread a blue cloth over the table of the Presence as well, and put the plates and cups on it, as well as the bowls and jugs for the drink offering. The current bread offering is to stay on it.

8 And they shall put upon it a scarlet cloth, and they shall cover it with a blue covering of skin, and they shall put the staves into it.

Over everything they are to spread a crimson cloth, next a fine leather covering, and then insert its carrying poles.

9 And they shall take a blue covering, and cover the candlestick that gives light, and its lamps, and its snuffers, and its funnels, and all the vessels of oil with which they minister.

Using a blue cloth, they are to cover the lampstand of light, together with its lamps, wick tongs, and trays, as well as the jars of olive oil used to fill them.

10 And they shall put it, and all its vessels, into a blue skin cover; and they shall put it on bearers.

Then have them wrap it together with all its utensils inside a fine leather covering and place it on the carrying frame.

11 And they shall put a blue cloth for a cover on the golden altar, and shall cover it with a blue skin cover, and put in its staves.

They are to spread a blue cloth over the gold altar, cover it with fine leather, and then insert its carrying poles.

12 And they shall take all the instruments of service, with which they minister in the sanctuary: and shall place them in a cloth of blue, and shall cover them with blue skin covering, and put them upon staves.

They are to place all the utensils used for the service in the sanctuary in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and place them on the carrying frame.

13 And he shall put the covering on the altar, and they shall cover it with a cloth all of purple.

Have them clean the ashes from the bronze altar and spread a purple cloth over it,

14 And they shall put upon it all the vessels with which they minister upon it, and the fire-pans, and the flesh hooks, and the cups, and the cover, and all the vessels of the altar; and they shall put on it a blue cover of skins, and shall put in its staves; and they shall take a purple cloth, and cover the laver and its foot, and they shall put it into a blue cover of skin, and put it on bars.

and put on it all the equipment used in the services on the altar: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls. Spread over it a fine leather covering and then insert its carrying poles.

15 And Aaron and his sons shall finish covering the holy things, and all the holy vessels, when the camp begins to move; and afterwards the sons of Caath shall go in to take up [the furniture]; but shall not touch the holy things, lest they die: these shall the sons of Caath bear in the tabernacle of witness.

Once Aaron and his sons have finished covering these holy things and all the equipment connected with them, when the camp is ready to move, the priests of the Kohath family are to come and carry them. But they are forbidden to touch anything holy, otherwise they'll die. These are their responsibilities for moving the Tent of Meeting.

16 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest is overseer—the oil of the light, and the incense of composition, and the daily meat-offering and the anointing oil, are his charge; even the oversight of the whole tabernacle, and all things that are in it in the holy place, in all the works.

Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, is to supervise obtaining olive oil for the lamps, the aromatic incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He is in charge of the whole Tabernacle and everything in it—all the holy things and equipment.”

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

The Lord told Moses and Aaron,

18 You shall not destroy the family of Caath from the tribe out of the midst of the Levites.

“Make sure the families of Kohath are not wiped out from the Levites.

19 This do you to them, and they shall live and not die, when they approach the holy of holies: Let Aaron and his sons advance, and they shall place them each in his post for bearing.

This is what you have to do so that they'll live and won't die by getting too close to something holy. Aaron and his sons must go in and tell each of them what they have to do and what they have to carry.

20 And [so] they shall by no means go in to look suddenly upon the holy things, and die.

But they must not to go in and look at the things that are most holy, even for just a moment, otherwise they'll die.”

21 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

22 Take the sum of the children of Gedson, and these according to the houses of their lineage, according to their families.

“Register the descendants of Gershon, according to their family and father's line

23 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until the age of fifty, every one that goes in to minister, to do his business in the tabernacle of witness.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

24 This [is] the public service of the family of Gedson, to minister and to bear.

This is how the families of Gershon will serve in terms of working and carrying:

25 And they shall bear the skins of the tabernacle, and the tabernacle of witness, and its veil, and the blue cover that was on it above, and the cover of the door of the tabernacle of witness.

Have them carry the Tabernacle curtains, the Tent of Meeting with its fine leather covering, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

26 And all the curtains of the court which were upon the tabernacle of witness, and the appendages, and all the vessels of service that they minister with they shall attend to.

the courtyard curtains, the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the Tabernacle and altar, the ropes, and everything connected with their use. The families of Gershon are responsible for everything required involving these items.

27 According to the direction of Aaron and his sons shall be the ministry of the sons of Gedson, in all their ministries, and in all their works; and you shall take account of them by name in all things borne by them.

All that they do is to be under the supervision of Aaron and his sons—all their work and carrying assignments. You are to tell them all they are required to carry.

28 This is the service of the sons of Gedson in the tabernacle of witness, and their charge by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

These are their responsibilities for moving the Tent of Meeting, carried out under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.

29 The sons of Merari according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, take you the number of them.

Register the descendants of Merari, according to their family and father's line.

30 Take the number of them from five and twenty years old and upwards until fifty years old, every one that goes in to perform the services of the tabernacle of witness.

Count men aged thirty to fifty—all who are entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

31 And these are the charges of the things borne by them according to all their works in the tabernacle of witness: they shall bear the chapiters of the tabernacle, and the bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and the veil, and [there shall be] their sockets, and their pillars, and the curtain of the door of the tabernacle.

This is how they will serve in handling the Tent of Meeting: they are to carry the frames of the Tabernacle with its crossbars, posts, and stands,

32 And they shall bear the pillars of the court round about, and [there shall be] their sockets, and [they shall bear] the pillars of the veil of the door of the court, and their sockets and their pins, and their cords, and all their furniture, and all their instruments of service: take you their number by name, and all the articles of the charge of the things borne by them.

the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their stands, tent pegs, and ropes, all their equipment and everything connected with their use. You are to tell them by name what they are responsible for carrying.

33 This is the ministration of the family of the sons of Merari in all their works in the tabernacle of witness, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

These are their responsibilities for all their work in moving the Tent of Meeting, carried out under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest.”

34 And Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel took the number of the sons of Caath according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage;

Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite leaders registered the families of Kohath according to their family and father's line.

35 from five and twenty years old and upwards to the age of fifty years, every one that goes in to minister and do service in the tabernacle of witness.

They counted men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

36 And the numbering of them according to their families was two thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

The total by families was 2,750.

37 This is the numbering of the family of Caath, every one that ministers in the tabernacle of witness, as Moses and Aaron numbered them by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

This was the total of the families of Kohath—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them in accordance with the Lord's instructions to Moses.

38 And the sons of Gedson were numbered according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage,

The families of Gershon were counted, according to their family and father's line,

39 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister and to do the services in the tabernacle of witness.

men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

40 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] two thousand six hundred and thirty.

The total by families and father's line was 2,630.

41 This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Gedson, every one who ministers in the tabernacle of witness; whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

This was the total of the families of Gershon —all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting. They were registered by Moses and Aaron in accordance with the Lord's instructions.

42 And also the family of the sons of Merari were numbered according to their divisions, according to the house of their fathers;

The families of Merari were counted, according to their family and father's line,

43 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to minister in the services of the tabernacle of witness.

men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting.

44 And the numbering of them according to their families, according to the houses of their lineage, [was] three thousand and two hundred.

The total by families was 3,200.

45 This [is] the numbering of the family of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered by the word of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.

This was the total of the families of Merari registered by Moses and Aaron in accordance with the Lord's instructions.

46 All that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the rulers of Israel numbered, [namely], the Levites, according to their families and according to the houses of their lineage,

This is how Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite leaders registered all the Levites according to their family and father's line.

47 from five and twenty years old and upward till fifty years old, every one that goes in to the service of the works, and the [charge of] the things that are carried in the tabernacle of witness.

They counted men aged thirty to fifty—all who were entitled to do the work of serving in the Tent of Meeting and carrying it.

48 And they that were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

The sum total was 8,580.

49 He reviewed them by the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses, appointing each man severally over their [respective] work, and over their burdens; and they were numbered, as the Lord commanded Moses.

It was in response to the Lord's instructions that they were registered by Moses. Each of those registered were told what to do and what to carry, as the Lord had ordered Moses.